Most restrooms, bathrooms, or other areas designated for users to defecate contain toilets. Modern toilets typically comprise a toilet body, a seat rotatably-hinged and attached to the toilet body, and a flush tank or flush valve. The toilet body includes a bowl, a bowl rim and ledge behind the bowl flush with the top of the rim .Most toilet bodies incorporate two mounting holes located in the ledge for attachment of the seat hinges. The pivot axis of seat hinges is typically parallel with and in close proximity to the transverse centerline of the mounting holes. Flush tank toilets can be one or two piece, with the flush tank integrated into or separate from the toilet body respectively. Toilets can be floor or wall mounted. Typically residential toilets have a closed front seat and a seat lid that can be closed when the toilet is not in use. To minimize contamination and expedite cleaning, public and commercial toilets typically have an open front seat and no seat lid.
Most women urinate and defecate with the toilet seat in the closed position. Men urinating from a standing position may lift the seat to minimize the potential of contaminating the seat with errant urine. In consideration of persons who may subsequently wish to use the toilet with the seat in the closed position, men may lower the seat after urinating. Many women are frequently confronted with toilet seats contaminated with urine or left in the raised position. This situation can result in ongoing intrapersonal strife, particularly in domestic settings. The seat may also be raised or lowered while the toilet is being cleaned.
Many people are reluctant to raise or lower a toilet seat by grasping it with the hands. This can be a very unpleasant and potentially dangerous experience as the toilet seat may be contaminated with urine or feces. Public and commercial toilets are particularly susceptible to this type of contamination. Direct contact with contaminated toilet seats can transmit bacteria, viruses and other pathogens to the user's hands. Even the perception the seat may be contaminated prevents many people from touching it. In addition, many users are physically unable, or find it difficult, to lift a toilet seat, such as small children the disabled, incapacitated and elderly. This concern is especially pertinent in healthcare, educational and retirement facilities.
There have been many devices which attempt to eliminate some of the above described problems. Although there has been a need for such a toilet seat lifting and closing device for many decades, there are none that adequately resolve ergonomic, hygienic, safety and aesthetic requirements while being adaptable to a wide range of existing standard and non-standard toilets and seats.
Industry standards for toilets, incorporating specifications for bowls and hinge mounting holes include those established by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standards for Ceramic Plumbing Fixtures , Standard ASME A112.19.2-2008/CSA B451-08. Section 4.5.5-Seat-mounting Holes specifies bolt holes be separated by 5.5 inches/140 mm on center, a hole diameter of 0.56 ±0.6 inches/14±1.5 mm, a hole depth of 0.25-0.63 inches/6-16 mm and a space for 1 inch/25 mm washer under the ledge. Section 4.6.6-Rim profiles specifies a bowel rim width of 14.0 inches/356 mm, a length of 16.5 inches/419 mm from the centers of seat mounting holes to the front of the rim for round toilets and a length of 18.5 inches/470 mm from the centers of the seat hinge mounting holes for elongated toilets.
Industry standards for toilet seats include the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) Standards for Plastic Toilet (Water Closet) Seats, Standard IAMPO/ANSI Z124.5-2006. Section 3.2 specifies bolt holes be separated by 5.5 inches/140 mm, a seat width of 14.0 inches/356 mm, a length of 16.25 inches/413 mm from the centers of seat mounting holes to the front of the rim for round toilet seats and a length of 18.25 inches/463.5 mm from the centers of the seat hinge mounting holes for elongated toilet seats.
ASME A112.19.2-2008/CSA B451-08 and IAMPO/ANSI Z124.5-2006 do not specify the transverse width of the ledge at mounting holes, the size and shape of the transition between the toilet bowel rim and the ledge, or clearances between flush tanks, flush valves, or other components located behind the transverse centerline of the mounting holes. Toilet bodies, seats, flush tanks and flush valves conforming to ASME/CSA and IAMPO/ANSI standards have a wide variety shapes, sizes, clearances and obstructions in the areas adjacent to the mounting holes where the seat attaches to the toilet. Toilets and seats not conforming to industry standards may have even greater variations. Many existing designs for toilet seat lifting and closing devices do not accommodate these variations and will not function with a wide variety of both standard and non-standard toilets.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,896 discloses a sanitary toilet seat apparatus permitting a user to raise and lower a toilet seat without having to touch the toilet seat directly. However, this disclosure disadvantageously incorporates significant portions of the lifting and lowering mechanisms, e.g., primary counterweights and pivot pins as integral components of the toilet seat in close proximity to the pivot axis of the hinges. The apparatus also requires a handle member and secondary counterweight (used for operating the device) to be coupled directly to the toilet seat. This creates a bulky and awkward structure that is not compatible with clearances found on many standard and non-standard toilet bowel, seat and flush tank and flush valve configurations. In addition, many users would find this device to be aesthetically unappealing.
The incorporation of primary counterweights and pivot pins directly into the back of the toilet seat subjects those components to high risk of contamination by feces when the seat is in the closed position, and from errant urine when the seat is in the raised position and major components are fully exposed and forward of the pivot axis of the seat hinges, The greater risk of contamination also increases the clean-up associated therewith, which is particularly counterproductive for those toilets used in the commercial setting. Similar to the primary counterweights and pivot joint, the proximity of the handle member and secondary counterweight to the back of the toilet seat also creates an unhygienic effect because of the potential contamination of fecal and urine fumes, fecal matter and urine splashed from the flushing process, and errant urine that may contact the handle member. Furthermore, the primary counterweights, pivot pins, handle member and secondary counterweight positioned in close proximity to a toilet bowl user, thus causing an obstruction, inconvenience and possible discomfort for the user.
Correspondingly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,087,104 , 5,461,733 and 935,535 disclose devices used to raise and lower a toilet seat having a rod attached to a hinge mounted directly to the underside of the toilet seat. These disclosures, however, suffer from similar ergonomic hygienic and aesthetic problems as discussed above. Specifically, most, if not all, of the components of the device are in close proximity to the side of toilet bowl and adjacent to the user, thereby creating an obstruction that is uncomfortable and visually unappealing to many. The proximity to the toilet bowl is unhygienic for the same reasons discussed above. Moreover, it would inapplicable or difficult to use for those users with physical restrictions because the counterweight utilized by this device is only employed for keeping rod upright and inefficiently does not facilitate the user in lifting or raising the toilet. In fact, these devices actually requires a user to exert more force to lift up the toilet seat and/or cover than a typical seat and lid.
Other known toilet seat lifting and lowering devices bear the same drawbacks and deficiencies as the above prior art. Specifically, some devices incorporate the use of a foot operated lever connected to a fulcrum and bracket that allows a user to raise and lower the toilet seat. Pressing on the foot lever with a user's foot raises and lowers lowering the toilet seat. Unfortunately, the foot lever has numerous disadvantages. The floor may be slippery and wet, thereby requiring firm footing near the toilet. Accessing the foot lever may cause slips and falls to a user. Also, a user's clothes may get caught up in the foot lever, creating unbalance and a potential fall by a user. Moreover, those devices also are in an area adjacent to the toilet bowel and susceptible to contamination by fecal matter and urine, and are difficult to maintain and repair. Lastly, many users desire to open or close a toilet seat, but simply forget to. As those foot levers devices are not at eye level and there is no visual cue, many users forget to lift or close a toilet seat. As such, the market is void of a singular device that is available to remedy the above described deficiencies in an effective and efficient manner.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.